PREFACE, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, AND INTRODUCTION

PREFACE

Mining activity comprises an
important component of our nation's heritage. Native Americans engaged in
the extraction and processing of precious metals long before initial contact
with Europeans. Stories of abundant mineral wealth ranked high on the list
of factors that first attracted Europeans to the North American continent.
The quest for mineral wealth continues in contemporary America. Many centuries
of mining activity have left a legacy of historic mining sites that now exist
throughout the United States.

The opulent Victorian architecture
characteristic of some successful nineteenth-century mining towns has galvanized
interest in preserving and restoring communities. The decaying industrial
sites where the actual mining occurred have received considerably less attention.
However, the industrial mining sites often face the greatest threats today.
Massive earth moving efforts associated with modern mining, along with programs
to reclaim abandoned mine lands, can harm the remnants of historic mining
activity. In addition, many mining sites have fallen victim to the combined
effects of neglect, abandonment, vandalism, and severe weather.

The threats faced by these properties,
along with the complex task of understanding the significance of deteriorated
sites associated with our industrial heritage, suggest the timeliness of a
bulletin on evaluating and nominating historic mining properties to the National
Register of Historic Places. The National Register evaluation process offers
a framework for assessing the significance of mining sites, while listing
in the National Register will help assure that significant mining sites are
recognized and protected when possible. The ultimate goal of this bulletin
is to provide a body of information to suppport Federal, State, and local
efforts to manage historic mining properties with a sense of stewardship predicated
upon recognition of the importance of these properties in our nation's history.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to offer special
thanks for the assistance of the Mining and Inventory and Monitoring Program,
Division of Cultural Resources, Alaska Regional Office, National Park Service
(NPS) and Don L. Hardesty of the University of Nevada-Reno. Representatives
of the Mining Inventory and Monitoring Program, especially Logan Hovis and
Ann Kain, provided extensive material regarding placer mining that has been
used throughout the bulletin. Don L. Hardesty authored material relating to
the evaluation of mining properties under Criterion D and provided additional
important information concerning the archeological dimensions of mining properties.
We are grateful for these valuable contributions.

This publication has been prepared
pursuant to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended, which
directs the Secretary of the Interior to develop and make available information
concerning historic properties. Guidelines for Identifying, Evaluating,
and Registering Historic Mining Properties was developed under the editorship
of Carol D. Shull, Keeper of the National Register of Historic Places. Antoinette
Lee, historian, coordinated publication and Patty Sackett Chrisman, historian,
provided technical support. Comments on this publication may be directed to
Keeper, National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 1849
C Street, NW, #2280, Washington, DC 20240.

I. INTRODUCTION

This photo of Virginia City,
Nevada illustrates characteristic features of mining towns such as headframes,
tailings piles, and exploration pits. Representing one of the United
States' most successful mining operations, the Virginia City Historic
District was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
(Jim Reinheiler)

The United States has ranked
among the world's leading nations in the production of gold, silver, copper,
iron, lead, coal, oil, zinc, molybdenum, uranium, and other metals. These
treasures from the earth have also made major impacts on the settlement and
development of many regions, from Appalachia to Alaska. Precious metals have
created unimaginable fortunes, while unwise investment has caused the loss
of millions of dollars. Large segments of the population have been influenced
by the work of prying ore, rock, or coal from the bowels of the earth. The
purpose of this bulletin is to assist in the recognition of significant mining
properties worthy of listing in the National Register of Historic Places.

Some of this country's spectacularly
successful mining operations have already been documented and recognized.
For example, Virginia City, Nevada; the Sloss blast furnaces at Birmingham,
Alabama; Butte, Montana; the Elkins coke works at Bretz, West Virginia; Kennecott,
Alaska; and the Calumet and Hecla Mine in Calumet, Michigan, are designated
National Historic Landmarks. Many additional mining properties are listed
in the National Register of Historic Places. However, throughout the nation,
many significant mining properties have yet to be documented, evaluated, and
listed in the National Register. Many of these remaining resources are small,
but important, elements of historic mining activity such as a ditch, a shaft
opening, a road, or a collection of prospect pits. As a result, this bulletin
will not focus on mining camps and their architecture, but instead will emphasize
the identification, evaluation, and registration of the frequently overlooked
mining properties and industrial tracts.

Mines and industrial tracts
encompass a range of types of historical and cultural properties. They vary
from iron works, to precious metal mills, to dredges and their associated
outbuildings. They include mercury furnaces from the Mexican-era in the West;
an early twentieth century nickel refinery in Perth Amboy, New Jersey; Russian
coal mines in Alaska; the expansive open pits of the Iron Range of Minnesota;
coal tipples in Appalachia; and copper mines of the Southwest. Although the
various metals require different technologies to extract economically valuable
metal from ore, there are many similarities in extraction, beneficiation (the
initial process of upgrading ore), and refining. Oil and gas fields, however,
require unique technologies developed for the extraction of fossil fuels.
This difference means that the extractive industries of oil and gas are not
examined in detail, although this bulletin will give general direction for
their evaluation.

The transient nature of mining
activity has left a legacy of historic properties that pose challenges to
our traditional rules for evaluating significance and integrity. Many mining
structures were built for temporary use and quickly abandoned once the minerals
had been exhausted. The resources have subsequently experienced decades of
neglect, aggravated by vandalism and severe weather. In other cases, mining
activities were short-lived. Hamilton, Nevada, for example, witnessed a whirlwind
of silver rush activity in 1869, but the mines failed and the town faded to
a ghost town within a decade (Jackson, 1963). The significance of such properties
will have to be based on their archeological potential and not on their present
lack of standing structures.

The need for guidance in evaluating
mining resources is pressing because of a marked increase in activities that
threaten historic mining resources. These activities include the recent upswing
in coal mining and precious metal mining which can impact historic mining
areas. In addition, mine reclamation and clean-up efforts often threaten historically
significant mines. Although well-intended, these clean-up activities can contribute
to the loss of significant resources.

The National Register of Historic
Places provides an important tool for evaluating and protecting mining properties.
Utilizing uniform criteria to evaluate significance and employing established
integrity standards, the National Register process provides a valuable yardstick
for measuring the historical significance of mining properties. Thus, the
National Register is the best means for determining the significance of historic
mining properties in the United States. In addition to providing an incentive
for preservation by recognizing resources that warrant preservation, listing
affords a measure of protection from Federal undertakings and can help to
identify properties worthy of Historic Preservation Fund grant assistance,
tax incentives, and other forms of assistance. The bulletin will also provide
an approach for complying with Federal laws such as the Surface Mining Control
and Reclamation Act of 1977 that help protect properties listed in the National
Register.

National Register listing also
gives credibility to State and local efforts to preserve mining resources
based on their continuing contribution to a community's identity. The documentation
contained in surveys and nominations of these historic mining properties especially
those that are neglected or threatened is the key to their better protection
and management. This information has a variety of uses, including public education;
planning by local, State, or Federal agencies; or publication. The purpose
of this bulletin is to guide Federal agencies, State historic preservation
offices, Certified Local Governments, preservation professionals, and interested
groups and individuals through the process of identifying, evaluating, and
registering historic mining properties to the National Register.

This bulletin outlines a general
approach to the identification, evaluation, and registration of historic mining
properties throughout the United States. A broad range of mining activities
were conducted in different regions of the country. Although this bulletin
may not provide specific details about every form of mining and every type
of mining property, the general process discussed in this bulletin will assist
with the nomination of a great diversity of mining properties.

The focus of this bulletin is
historic mines or associated properties constructed specifically for the extraction
of minerals or to support the extraction, benefication, and refining of minerals.
In addition, this bulletin may also assist with the identification, evaluation,
and registration of properties associated with non-metallic mining. Examples
include clay mining (associated with brick making), salt mining, salt petre
mining, and rock and gravel quarrying. For the purposes of this bulletin,
the word "mineral," when used in the context of extracted matter, includes
coal.